Today is walk in the park day. You know they say that life isn't always a walk in the park and often it isn't. It can present challenges, stresses and sadness and sometimes there is nothing we can do about it. Sometimes though, life can be a walk in the park if we choose to make it one. We can choose to eat well, make healthful choices, be happy, be kind, or show love. And, when we do those things, even if it's only for a moment or two, life actually is a beautiful walk in the park on a spring day with a light breeze, warm sun on our faces, kids playing, and dogs cavorting. So, what can you do just for today to make your life feel like a walk in the park? What could make a difference for you for today? And then, go for a walk in the park.

Some people say that one person’s weed is another person’s flower or that a weed is just a flower in the wrong place. Today, as your lawn is perhaps finally starting to turn green, take a moment to appreciate your weeds. Use it as a moment to think about whether you would consider not using toxic fertilizers and weed killers. Instead, celebrate what grows naturally, or at least find a non toxic way to make your yard look as you want it to. Think about the dogs that will try to eat your grass, the babies that might play in your yard, the toxics that might get onto the bottom of your shoes and then be tracked into your house. There is a better way. We don’t need to poison ourselves, especially for vanity. I didn’t even mention the runoff into our groundwater that might then be poisoning the fish in our food supply. So, today, appreciate weeds, and think just for a few moments about the choices that could make this spring that could have such a big impact on you, your family, your neighbors, and our food supply. Then, maybe this fall when you see a dandelion pod, pick it, take a deep breath, make a wish, perhaps for a non toxic environment, and gently exhale sending the little white seeds hither and yon.

Today is spinach day, so let’s take a moment to celebrate how incredibly versatile spinach is. You can eat it in so many different ways. Include a handful of baby spinach in your morning smoothie, sauté it into your scrambled eggs, make your salad with spinach greens, steam spinach as your vegetable with a meal, chop it up and include it in your veggie burger, put a layer of spinach on almost any sandwich – the options are almost limitless. So, enjoy your spinach! It’s incredibly good for you. It has potassium, calcium, vitamin k, iron, magnesium, and thiamine.. it’s good for all sorts of things that ail you – and it’s delicious! ENJOY!

In honor of puppy day, Pepper asked if he could write this blog post.. so here he is. You know what, puppy day is important because, unfailingly, every day, I make Wendy happy. Here are the things that I do.

Every morning, I joyously greet her.

When I feel like doing something silly, I do.

When I’m tired, I sleep.

I can be content just sitting next to her.

When I’m hungry I eat, when I’m not I don’t.

I always drink water before we go for a walk.

I’m just thinking, if people did these things, they would probably be much happier. I probably also do some things that make Wendy less happy, like I don’t think she likes picking up my poop or when I bark for no reason, but heck, no one is perfect, right?

That awkward moment when you do something you wish you hadn’t done and you look around, hoping that no one has seen you, ah but they have – awkward!.. But then, I started to think about awkward moments some more. Maybe, they are really about vulnerability. Instead of feeling shame or pretending it didn’t happen, what if we acknowledged that awkward moment, let ourselves be vulnerable, were open to a conversation about what just happened and were open to listening if someone wanted to share a vulnerable moment of their own? Imagine not feeling shame, owning who we are; that we are all human and all have mishaps. What a lovely world that could be. How freeing. Intrigued? Here’s more from Brene’ Brown.

Take a moment today to appreciate your lips. Our lips serve so many purposes, not the least of which is kissing. Treat your lips well. You don’t really want to fill them full of toxins, do you? Don’t put lead and artificial colorings on them in the form of lipsticks or petrolatum and other toxins. Choose instead non toxic lip coverings. Look your products up on the Environmental Working Group’s Skindeep database or buy from Ava Anderson Non Toxic. Thank you lips!

In honor of Pi day, I asked my husband, Matt, who is both a math teacher and a pizza lover, to guest blog and I've promised to be non-judgmental about pizza for the ENTIRE day! ---- Sometimes when ordering pizza, there is an involved discussion about what size and how many to get, especially when different topping preferences are a factor. Let’s face it, you either love or hate anchovies on pizza or there is the great vegetarian versus meat debate. The great news is Pi can come to the rescue, and the math does not have to be complicated. The area of a circle is pi times radius squared . Pi is a constant, so we can factor it out. A 12” pizza has a diameter of 12” and so has a radius of 6”. 6 squared is 36. A 16” pizza has a radius of 8”. 8 squared is 64. This means that a 16” pizza is almost twice as much pizza as a 12” pizza. On the other hand, an 8” personal pizza is 16, less than ½ of the 12” pizza. On this national pi day, I salute whoever discovered that pi is the constant when you divide the circumference of a circle by its diameter. The ancient Babylonians used pi and understood it was a constant but could only roughly estimate its actual value. Successive generations of mathematicians learned to extend the accuracy to increasingly greater decimal places. Those who tried included Newton, Archimedes, Leibniz, Euler, and Gregory. We will probably never learn the true value since the actual value appears to extend infinitely after the decimal point with no known pattern. But we will never stop trying. Here is hoping that we all learn to enjoy math a little more and apply it successfully to solving life’s little challenges. And oh, I am glad you asked. I went for pepperoni and onions.

Today is pack your lunch day – I think that’s great. Do you have fabulous leftovers from last night? Think outside the box, what would be a good, healthy choice for lunch. Then, when it’s time to eat your lunch, eat it mindfully. Step away from your workday routine, carefully lay out your food, take a deep breath, a moment of gratitude for your food, and then eat slowly and mindfully. Even with this relaxed approach to eating your lunch, you might find you have enough time to go for a walk before returning to your desk refreshed and revitalized for the remainder of your day. Perhaps you will enjoy this experience so much that you will do the same thing tomorrow. Then you can start to track all of the money you are saving by not going out to lunch each day. What will you use it for? How does it make you feel?

Today is false teeth day – again maybe it’s better to take a moment to think about it as “not false teeth” day. What are the choices you can make today to reduce the risk of losing your teeth down the road? Good dental hygiene is really important. Also, avoiding foods that cause your teeth to rot – soda and anything with sugar are high on the list. Do you want to take it a step further? Try oil pulling. Put one or two teaspoons of coconut oil in your mouth and swish it for twenty minutes (yes really, 20 minutes, it’s ok to build up to that over time), spit it out in the trash (never swallow it), rinse your mouth with warm water and brush your teeth. It takes getting used to, but it is really good for your oral health!

Author

A little about me and why I am doing this.

I am passionate about working with people to help them achieve their goals through making healthier nutrition and wellness choices. My particular interest is in working with people who are seeking to make choices to help to prevent cancer or its recurrence. I believe that through healthy food choices, avoiding toxins, and taking steps to reduce stress and be happier, it is easier to achieve life goals and to stay healthier. Because of my passion, I am a holistic health coach, a distributor of Ava Anderson Non Toxic Products, and a one-on-one provider for Heart Math.